Looking Back

With Yule coming up, I've taken a bit of a hiatus from doing as many Youtube videos and blog posts. I've been working with the tribe to get everything together. This weekend, we're going to eat well, honor each other, our families, ancestors, and Gods.

This point in the year, it's time to look back at the last twelve months, and look at what's been accomplished, and also learn from failure.

I can only speak for myself, but this has been a year that's made me mature more, not just as a Heathen, but as a man. I made an oath last year that I would do what I could to help build a larger Heathen community in this state. I feel like WV, at this point, has much potential now as far as a Heathen community goes. It's been getting more active as of late, and I'm really happy to see that.

When Ulv Hamre formed, it was just Frank and myself. We had an idea of structure from the beginning, and that first copy of the handbook was put out in a Facebook group that we ran for us. I had known Terra from mutual connections and brought up to her what we were starting. I didn't know how exactly she would react to it, but she was receptive, and we went from there, picking up Stevan and Jeff.

Over the last six months, we've gained and lost, went through drama (as expected, unfortunately, when you deal with many people), had folks try to take our members out from under us, hosted an event, networked, and tried to do what we could to help the community. As a group, right now, we've never been stronger. Everyone has a job that they do within the tribe, and they do all do their jobs well. We work together, and in our personal lives, we've gotten to be great friends.

As a man, I've gone from being ready to fight at the drop of a hat, to being smarter, and overall more patient. I don't rush into a fight, but I don't back away from the struggle at all. I think more in the way of, "How does this effect my tribe and family?"...I've learned that in conflict, the best way to handle some situations, is just to merely ignore and move on. Sometimes the quieter route is more effective than the more physical or the loudest way of doing things. The idea is that, "if you give someone enough rope, they'll hang themselves."...I don't like drama and bullshit, so this works better at times.

With all of the highs and lows, I couldn't be more proud of my tribe. They've stuck by what we stand for, regardless of the situation. I've always been used to putting my head down and running head first into whatever problems arise, and just making it out on the other side, by myself. It's a whole other feeling when  you've got a group behind you, that look at you and say, "Well, we'll get through this too."

That, to me, is Heathenry, or at least our brand of it. That word has a lot of different meanings to different people these days. Mine goes along more of a tribal definition. It's a way of life that centers around family and our innegard. The idea that you're ready to weather whatever situation, and come out the other side together, dusting yourself off, and holding your tattered banner up high, is one that's important to me.

So the last twelve months have been great, honestly. It's been a learning experience, and I've met a lot of great people. The next twelve, I'm hoping we see more growth locally, as well as beyond.

With that said, videos will go up regularly after the new year. The newsletter is bi-monthly now, to fit in more content. A calendar of events will be put out for the year at some point, as well.

Hope you guys have a safe and merry Yule.